Provence Wealth Management Group Grows Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Provence Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,114 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9,623.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,611 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $329,179,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 2,727,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,586 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in PepsiCo by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 68.0% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,922,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,371 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $176.15. 3,492,120 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $242.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week high of $196.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $170.14 and a 200 day moving average of $168.36.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

PepsiCo Profile

PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region.